Tag: Tools I Use

Tools I Use: Mobile Ordering

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Mobile Ordering is not new. As soon as Starbucks, Panera and others restaurants started offer mobile ordering, I started using them. Often, this is done through a mobile app available on a smartphone which geolocates you to the closest retail locations.

Why mobile ordering?

I like spending time wisely. Waiting is not time spent wisely. If I have to wait for anything, I listen to audiobooks or podcasts. If I can mobile order a coffee from Starbucks before I walk into the store, I do. The beverage is ready and paid for when I walk in. I walk past all the people waiting in line, find my drink (not hard since few do this today).

Mobile orders are given priority which means I wait LESS than if stopped thinking to wait in line to order a coffee. Why would I want to do that?

Advantages to mobile ordering

You win back time. Less waiting for your order since it is now a priority. Mobile order minutes before arriving. Helpful when traveling. Walk in. Pick up the order. Consume your order.

You can still configure order as you normally would. If you want your beverage prepared a specific way, these are all options during the mobile ordering process. Same thing if you order food, but you want them to hold the onions.

Some mobile ordering apps we’ll remember your previous orders to make it easier the next time you order. With a few less taps on your mobile device, you can save time during the ordering process as well.

Of course, mobile ordering can include delivery you don’t have to go anywhere, provided the establishment delivers to your location. I typically use mobile ordering when I’m commuting or traveling.

Discounts or rewards for mobile orders are common for retailers who try to make mobile orders more popular.

More retailers are offering mobile ordering as an option to speed up the process. A number of companies enable mobile ordering for restaurants with their giving menu options and branding.

I see no purpose to talk to someone about ordering my food or beverage if I can mobile order it and speed up the process. If I am grabbing and going, I see no reason to chat or pant while waiting for your order.

On the other hand, if I am going to sit down and be social, then I will not mobile order. I plan to be there a while. If some startups have their way, waiters will no longer exist next decade.

Some people who feel social pressure find issue with the tipping part of a mobile app. I find the appearance of a tipping request common now (after all, it can makes them more money), but if the person did nothing to earn a tip (which is often the case) beyond their normal counter level service that I pick up myself, I don’t tip. Period. I fail to yield nor see any social pressure nor peer pressure if I need to make an order by mobile device or at a counter, then pick up my order myself.

Delivery is another question though. I will tip if someone delivers my mobile order to home, office or where ever.

It’s also a conversation to have with people you are mobile ordering with. Something new.

Try mobile ordering next time it’s available.

Questions?

Tools I Use: Airbnb

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Since I travel up to 100 days a year, I often need to stay somewhere in another city away from home. To keep my expenses low and keep the value high, I use Airbnb. Yes, I use them more than hotels. If I need to be on assignment in a different region, I don’t rent apartments or houses away from home because all I need access to place to stay. I do not need more ownership. I do not need more infrastructure to manage. I choose access over ownership and it works very well when I travel. Makes life easier.

Get over your fears of staying in other people’s home

My criteria to find a place on Airbnb

First of all, real estate is all about the location. I pick where I want/need to stay. While on assignment in a major city, I sometimes would book a different place every night in a different area of [major city] by choice. Sometimes I would select a place after dinner for that very night. Yes, I would find a nice, clean place every time.

This is one of the easiest ways to see what living in different neighbors is really like. Just like a long term test drive. By literally living there. Not just staying in a bland, cookie-cutter hotel room like a bad tourist trap. I avoid those at all costs. I would rather be homeless than stay at one of those.

I set a budget in mind and length of stay that I plan to be somewhere. Some places require a few days or a week stay to make it worth their while. When on assignment for a week or a few months, that makes sense for me too. Weekly and monthly rates can be quite affordable. Often much better than any rent/lease.

Private room is all I need. I don’t want to care for an entire place. I look for basic amenities like wifi. Extras to me are TVs or a private bath. I eat out when I am not at home almost all the time because that is covered by the client so I am not interested in cooking outside of home. Eating different food is part of the adventure of traveling. Some places I have stayed with through Airbnb have provide coffee in the morning or even full breakfast served. It is very generous of the hosts and saves me the time of looking for a place to eat and order.

Previous ratings are key to a good stay. Read the comments. See what it at the residence and around it.

Same goes for the guest (guests are rated by the hosts as well). I have dozens of positive reviews by multiple different hosts so I am very likely welcomed into most places.

Most hosts are very friendly and welcoming. I have stayed where the host is not seen, leaves a key and some notes which can work well.

Try Airbnb for your next business or leisure trip.

Questions?

Tools I Use: to test bandwidth

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I work remotely quite often and I am traveling away from home up to 90 days per year.

Whenever I am in a new work environment, whether it is a client’s office, a co-working space, a coffee shop or wherever, I test the internet speeds to see what is available. This is better than assuming speeds before I start working.

http://speedtest.net is a free online service that measures the bandwidth (speed) and latency (time delay) of your internet connection.

Using this site is a good practice before using any hardline connection or wifi. This is especially good before a video conference call or uploading some new audio podcast files since both could be taxing on the internet bandwidth available as well as anyone’s level of patience.

Remember the speeds slower than 56k? I do. I also remember transferring digital photos for print publications back to the office on a daily basis via 56k. Not fun. Luckily, those days are over.

I recently went to a co-working space only to find 8 Mbps for upload and download speeds. That sounds reasonable until we factored in all the people who needed to do different video conferencing sessions where a clear video feed was critical to seeing the human-computer interactions (UX) being measured during the interviews.

Most video conferencing I have seen are more talking heads just like newscasts, which provides little to no value and suck up bandwidth for no reason. Unless there is a slide deck to be shared/presented, I commonly shut off the video camera and use ‘audio only’ to get clearer audio, where the value comes from anyhow. I don’t need to see someone to understand them. If they have a thick accent, it is actually easier to understand them by closing your eyes and focus on what is said. Try it and hear it yourself.

Questions?

Tools I Use: Scheduling

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I have saved so much time scheduling calls or meetings because of no back-and-forth using assistant.to

It is simple to use with Gmail along with Google Calendar. And it is free to use.

If you don’t want to be limited to just Gmail nor picking times yourself that would work for you in the future, I have saved even more time by allowing people to schedule time with me based on my calendar availability for Zoom.us calls using calendly.com.

The combination of Zoom for calls and calendly.com save countless hours each week.

Yes, if you really want to discuss something productive for 15 minutes with me, schedule the time here and you will see what I mean.

If I need to schedule a group of people (3+) together for a virtual group meeting days or weeks in advance and want to offer a few choices in dates and times, I use zvite.co, which is free to use.

There are some other appointment scheduling apps available if you prefer to do your own research.

Questions?

Tools I Use: One Phone

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I only have one phone. Yes, one (1) mobile phone. It simplifies life.

No home phone. No one of any value called us at home. Killed off that phone line.

No fax nor telex (that is so last century). No paper to scan either (that’s for another post).

No office phone. If a workplace issues me a phone, I program the office line to automatically forward to my phone. Minutes are not an issue since I have plenty of them.

I am not a slave to a phone nor multiple phones. However, access and simplicity for myself as well as anyone trying to call me (for the immediacy) is key.

I believe that in the 21st century, we have no reason to have multiple phone numbers nor phones. No juggling phones necessary.

Work-life balance

Most mobile phones have caller ID which identifies the caller, often by name. You can either take the call or you will not. That is the balance within your 168 hour week.

I do not need two or more separate devices to determine if it is work-related or not. I have met people that have up to five (5) mobile phones (often executives). Where is the balance there? I call that a juggling act, not a balancing act. Most of these people are dead and not of old age. Simplify your life rather than cluttering it.

It is very simple. One phone number to reach me. Period. If you can’t reach me, you can leave me a voicemail or text me. All to my one phone. I will follow up when I am available.

I accept a very few unscheduled calls from people calling me when it is not a robocall, some other useless call I don’t care about and when I am not on airplane mode working. I will tell you if you are wasting your time and mine very directly. I am really not shy about this. People deserve honesty 100% of the time, even if it bruises their ego (sometimes people mistaken ego for feelings). They’ll live. They deserve to know even if they call me names afterwards. Why? Because few have the courage to do this, so they rarely hear it. This not because people are too nice, but because many are too afraid to offend or have any form of confrontation.  I call it candor. Try it. You really should. With respect. And setting the scene for direction of the conversation with some framing.

Battery life

Many people struggle using a mobile phone charged for the entire day. That is the top buying criteria when I get a mobile phone. It lasts all day, or I don’t buy it. I am not blind (yet) so I don’t need a big screen. I know how to dim my screen to save battery life. I put my phone on airplane mode when I am in meetings that don’t require internet access. I am conscious of what apps suck battery life. All cars I ride/drive in have a phone charger, and I carry a phone charger with my laptop just in case. Be prepared.

Mobile hotspot

My mobile phone has the option to be a mobile hotspot to provide my laptop a wifi connection from anywhere I have mobile phone connection. I am not one to go off grid even if I were to go camping like I did when I was Boy Scout. This hotspot feature has proven invaluable many times in case a wifi connection is spotty or if I run into an unreliable ISP.  This is a second option for data which sometimes becomes the only option in order to remain connected  for online collaborative meetings, podcast interviews, webinars or quick email.

Unlimited data plan

In the early days of mobile phones, people talked a lot,m but the mobile phone provider would limit the number of minutes you could call per month. Now our Voice (minutes), Messaging (unlimited) and Data plan should be as close to unlimited as possible. This is a given cost of doing business for any basic or advanced operations today. When you are remote this matters even more. You learn quickly where dodgy spots are and adapt to avoid them.

Global Calls

If I need to call someone across the globe, I either use apps like Google Hangout,  Skype, Whatsapp or Zoom. Most people I need to speak with know how to use these tools. Otherwise, I use these tools to call their one phone. I am not the only one with just one phone.

Questions?